N
NESTLEPSK
Guest
State of Texas
On September 19, 2001, I was using the payphone in the breakroom at my job which I had permission from my supervisor to do, and in the breakroom, there was a television mounted at the ceiling that plays continuously. As I was walking out of the breakroom, I was under the television as I met the company's Human Resources Safety Coordinator. He snapped at me and said "we're not paying you to watch television". I stopped and said "I'm not watching television". He slammed the knob to the off position on the television and told me to go back to work. As he hit the knob on the television, the plastic knob bounced off and fell on the floor. I picked up the knob, put it in his hand and said "Boy somebody's having a bad day", which is the usual bantor between us, and I walked out of the breakroom heading toward my work area. As I was about halfway back to my work area, my inter-company radio started making the low-battery sound. I stopped, turned back around to go to the office to change my battery, because they were kept on a charger in the main office. I walked by the person who had been upset with me and changed out the battery. As I was walking back out, he stopped, stood up and yelled "I thought I told you to go back to work". I told him that I was on my way back to work and that if he would quit worrying about me, I could get back there quicker. I went back to work and finished the rest of the day. 8 days passed and nothing was ever said to me by my supervisor, the production manager or the person in question. On the 8th day, I was called into the office and at first, they said that they were downsizing and that I would be effected. I said something to the effect that I thought it had to due with my disability and the problems we've had in the past about it. I had been diagnosed with sleep apnea by my physician after undergoing a series of sleep studies in response to my falling asleep easily at traffic lights, in the middle of conversations, etc., and was found to have severe sleep apnea. I've been under treatment, have to wear a oxygen machine at night, and have relatively few problems. I did, however, fall asleep in a safety meeting at work....having to do with my treatment being adjusted. They threatened to fire me, saying "sleeping on the job is sleeping on the job" and I had to take documentation of my disability, indicating that it could cause nodding off, from my doctor to work. They backed off of that, however, I did get written up. The factory manager then said that in any event, I was disrespectful to the Safety Coordinator, regarding the television incident. I tried to explain to him exactly what had happened and he said "No, it's a done deal". He said "I've already talked to human resources and we're going to let you go". We then left to go get my personal belongings out of my cabinet and on my way out of the facility, I turned to the factory manager and my supervisor and said "I hope you have the decency not to blackball me on my next job" to which the factory manager replied, "In my mind, we're just laying you off." As we got close to the exit door, he said "Take care of yourself" and tried to shake my hand. I said nothing and left. Upon picking up my final check from human resources, I made the comment that while I was looking for employment, I was going to be filing for unemployment, to which the human resources director replied, "Oh we don't pay unemployment, we'll deny the claim". Sure enough, the unemployment claims are pending with a totally and absolutetly different story being told by the safety coordinator. Not only am I not receiving my unemployment benefits, but I cannot take advantage of the Workforce Job Opportunities affiliated with the Texas Unemployment Agency due to the fact that this former employer is are protesting my clain.
I'm sorry for the length of this note, but I really need to know if I have any type of legal recourse, and I wanted you to have all the information regarding this situation. I was an employee there for 2.5 years, with a good work record and excellent attendence.
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.
On September 19, 2001, I was using the payphone in the breakroom at my job which I had permission from my supervisor to do, and in the breakroom, there was a television mounted at the ceiling that plays continuously. As I was walking out of the breakroom, I was under the television as I met the company's Human Resources Safety Coordinator. He snapped at me and said "we're not paying you to watch television". I stopped and said "I'm not watching television". He slammed the knob to the off position on the television and told me to go back to work. As he hit the knob on the television, the plastic knob bounced off and fell on the floor. I picked up the knob, put it in his hand and said "Boy somebody's having a bad day", which is the usual bantor between us, and I walked out of the breakroom heading toward my work area. As I was about halfway back to my work area, my inter-company radio started making the low-battery sound. I stopped, turned back around to go to the office to change my battery, because they were kept on a charger in the main office. I walked by the person who had been upset with me and changed out the battery. As I was walking back out, he stopped, stood up and yelled "I thought I told you to go back to work". I told him that I was on my way back to work and that if he would quit worrying about me, I could get back there quicker. I went back to work and finished the rest of the day. 8 days passed and nothing was ever said to me by my supervisor, the production manager or the person in question. On the 8th day, I was called into the office and at first, they said that they were downsizing and that I would be effected. I said something to the effect that I thought it had to due with my disability and the problems we've had in the past about it. I had been diagnosed with sleep apnea by my physician after undergoing a series of sleep studies in response to my falling asleep easily at traffic lights, in the middle of conversations, etc., and was found to have severe sleep apnea. I've been under treatment, have to wear a oxygen machine at night, and have relatively few problems. I did, however, fall asleep in a safety meeting at work....having to do with my treatment being adjusted. They threatened to fire me, saying "sleeping on the job is sleeping on the job" and I had to take documentation of my disability, indicating that it could cause nodding off, from my doctor to work. They backed off of that, however, I did get written up. The factory manager then said that in any event, I was disrespectful to the Safety Coordinator, regarding the television incident. I tried to explain to him exactly what had happened and he said "No, it's a done deal". He said "I've already talked to human resources and we're going to let you go". We then left to go get my personal belongings out of my cabinet and on my way out of the facility, I turned to the factory manager and my supervisor and said "I hope you have the decency not to blackball me on my next job" to which the factory manager replied, "In my mind, we're just laying you off." As we got close to the exit door, he said "Take care of yourself" and tried to shake my hand. I said nothing and left. Upon picking up my final check from human resources, I made the comment that while I was looking for employment, I was going to be filing for unemployment, to which the human resources director replied, "Oh we don't pay unemployment, we'll deny the claim". Sure enough, the unemployment claims are pending with a totally and absolutetly different story being told by the safety coordinator. Not only am I not receiving my unemployment benefits, but I cannot take advantage of the Workforce Job Opportunities affiliated with the Texas Unemployment Agency due to the fact that this former employer is are protesting my clain.
I'm sorry for the length of this note, but I really need to know if I have any type of legal recourse, and I wanted you to have all the information regarding this situation. I was an employee there for 2.5 years, with a good work record and excellent attendence.
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.